Lovely Package

Curating the very best packaging design

“This month sees the launch of newly designed packaging for Lyons cakes. Briefed to explore and celebrate the brand’s rich heritage, the new look plays back to its famous history of teashops and its waitresses from the 1890s.

With a long-­‐standing tradition for ‘proper’ cakes, the brand was renowned for its nippy waitresses serving up affordable tea and cake to the masses. Having lost its way over the years, the redesign focused on communicating the brand’s story in a relevant and contemporary manner.”

“McGrath’s is Craft Brewed in Ireland by Clanconnel Brewing Co. Drinksology was commissioned to reinvent their brand and packaging. Named in honour the local hero The ‘Mighty’ Master Mcgrath, the greatest greyhound to have ever raced, the recipe numbers & label colours reflect the numbers and colours of greyhound racing jackets.”

“The main basis for the Blanc 2011 restyling was simplicity, even bareness; from capsule removal, to the idea of the label itself. Starting from deconstruction and later the fusion of typography. White silk screen printing on a black bottle was emphasizes the distinctive element of the bottle.”

“Brief: we are targeting a selective and well informed clientele, abroad. We want to stress the special qualities of our product.

Design: since our client wanted to avoid having a ‘provenance-oriented’ identity, we turned to the area of basic human aspirations. Creating the product’s identity, we resorted to a singular combination of metaphysics and humor. We used the term “St. Olive”, not in a religious context, but as an attempt to bring forward the chthonic, primary, life-giving character of the oil fruit. Design helped us make this approach more concrete and acute: it placed a hand – the very representation of the spiritual and the divine- within the area of the ritual, the human and the feasible. In this way humor allowed for process to emerge as the care needed to make things great. We even collaborated with a painter specializing in byzantine iconography, in order to be faithful to the codes of the symbolic language we chose. It was our way to confirm once more what we believe is on the basis of every communication: everything, from the simple to the complicated, is “a leap of faith’ and one there is no reason to take without being well prepared.”

“Objective: In 2011 Reynolds and Reyner finished two huge projects redesigning international brands of paints. After that they were asked to develop a new visual identity for a small Finnish company which was planning to enter the U.S. market. Without the past, unlike the majority of existing brands in the segment, but believing in the future, the key to access the market was a package design. “We don’t just need – we must! stand out” – this phrase has become the basis at work on a new brand identity.

Process: How to create a brand that stands out? We need to find the design solution that hasn’t been used by any of the competitors. At the same time showing the main features of the company – friendliness, quality and innovation. WTP is not just a manufacturer of paints – it’s an assistant, always ready to help, suggest and defend from the hassles and problems. Repairs with WTP is simple, convenient and fast and this is what in it’s simple design.

Results: No doubt, WTP is the most friendly and remarkable brand of paints on the shelf now. WTP has no corporate colors – it have the corporate identity, common for each design element – from business cards to packaging. Every item is bright and memorable combination of colors and objects that all together form whole the entire brand. The next step is to prove that the product is as high quality as its outer shell. But this is another story.”

“When the season finally arrived, we went to the strawberry fields close to Budapest to fill up our buckets with this small delicious fruit. After puddling and boiling them for hours, we mixed it with fresh mint, and poured it into small jars. Our jam is called “Eperlekvár mentával” in hungarian, so I used just the first letters. I made a stamp and prepared all the labels manually.”

“ES Poma (“apple is” in catalan) is a mistela elaborated with Grenache from the Emporda and apple juice from Girona. Pep Nogué and La Vinyeta, apple and Grenache, Girona and Empordà. Like two pieces of a puzzle, this is a mistela of fusions. Wood types printed in green and orange are overprinted.”

“Superior traditional male grooming has always stood for its attention to detail. The closeness of a shave can be the differentiating factor between standing out as a man of distinction or fading into the crowd as just another ordinary guy. Macleran’s positioning line “Outer expression for the inner man” communicates this sense of refinement.

Raw materials paired with clean modern colours and textures makes for a masculine yet sophisticated image that pays homage to the brand’s timeless role while celebrating its contemporary style.”

“The Munich delicatessen Dallmayr produces a range of high quality confectionery products in its own chocolate factory. The new Dallmayr chocolate range with refined recipes and only the best ingredients is the result of consistent further development and the company philosophy to strive for outstanding quality.

The objective for the designers from fpm was to express these high quality standards and manufacturing philosophy through suitable packaging design. At the same time the structure of the product range and different categories of chocolate quality should be easy for customers to understand.”